This Town Needs Guns, are a math rock

Math rock

Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s and that was very influenced by progressive rock like King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage...

 band originating from Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 in the United Kingdom. They were formed in 2004, and are currently signed to Sargent House (USA), Zankyo (JPN) as well as Big Scary Monsters (UK) which ended in August 2009.

Their debut full length album, Animals, was released in UK via Big Scary Monsters Recording Company

Big Scary Monsters Recording Company

Big Scary Monsters Recording Company is a British based independent record label. Probably the most well-known acts associated with the label are This Town Needs Guns, Kevin Devine, Pulled Apart By Horses, Walter Schreifels, Andrew WK and Get Cape. Wear Cape...

 in October 2008 and shortly after in the US via Sargent House

Sargent House

Sargent House is a Los Angeles based management company and record label. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and who also owns a music video production company called Refused TV. Pellow began managing the rock outfit RX Bandits in 2006...

 Records.

History

The band formed in 2004 in Oxford. The original lineup consisted of Stuart Smith on rhythm guitar and vocals, Tim Collis on lead guitar, Simon Thompson on Drums and Ian Lewis on Bass. Ian and Simon left the band in 2005, to be replaced by Jamie Cooper on bass and Chris Collis (brother of guitarist Tim) on drums in early 2006. In earlier careers, bassist Jamie Cooper had worked as a graphic designer, drummer Chris Collis had been a librarian at the University of Oxford, guitarist Tim Collis was a primary school teacher, and lead vocalist Stuart Smith worked building websites for a publisher. On May 11, 2011, it was announced on This Town Needs Guns' website that lead singer Stuart Smith would be leaving the band to start a family, and that he would be replaced by Pennines' singer and guitarist Henry Tremain.

Musical style

Over the years the band's musical style has progressed and changed, although the focal point of their style has been the guitar work of Tim Collis interspersed with at points highly complex drumming and sparse, melodic bass. Early releases however, featured more distorted chord progressions, as well as a strong focus on the interlinking melodies of both Collis and Smith's guitars. More recently however, the band's music has become more technical; making more use of asymmetrical time signatures and complex accenting between guitar and drums, plus an abandonment of distortion and guitar effects, giving way to more complex melodies. The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...

describes the band's music as having "intricate pop guitar work, with a touch of jazz and Spanish influences".

The band cites influences of other bands such as Owls

Owls (band)

Owls was an emo indie rock band from Chicago, Illinois, from 2001-2002. The band was formed by the original lineup of seminal experimental emo indie band Cap'n Jazz soon after its second breakup ; Cap'n Jazz guitarist Davey von Bohlen, who played in the band's second incarnation, had gone on to...

, American Football

American Football (band)

American Football was an indie rock band from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, active from 1997 to 2000. The band was formed by guitarist/bassist and singer Mike Kinsella and drummer Steve Lamos American Football was an indie rock band from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, active from 1997 to 2000. The band...

, Incubus

Incubus (band)

Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...

 and Make Believe

Make Believe (band)

Make Believe is an indie rock band, initially formed as a touring version of Joan of Arc. The band was initially composed of singer Tim Kinsella, guitarist Sam Zurick, bassist Bobby Burg, and drummer/keyboardist Nate Kinsella. After 3 months of touring as Joan Of Arc the quartet returned home and...

.

Albums

• Animals (BSM - October 2008, Sargent House - January 2009)

EPs

• This Town Needs Guns (Yellow Ghost - 2008, Rallye - 2008)
• Split CD with Cats and Cats and Cats (BSM - 2007)

Singles

• Adventure, Stamina & Anger (2011)
• Pig (Single Split with Pennines) (BSM - 2008)
• And I'll Tell You For Why... (BSM - 2007)
• Hippy Jam Fest (BSM - 2006)

Current members

• Henry Tremain - Vocals, guitar
• Tim Collis - Guitar
• Jamie Cooper - Bass
• Chris Collis - Drums

Former Members

• Stuart Smith - Vocals, guitar
• Dan Adams - Bass, trumpet
• Jody Prewitt - Piano, Guitar
• Matt Bennington - Drums
• Simon Thompson - Drums
• Ian Lewis - Bass